Image Museum of Hsinchu. Mr. Wu introduced himself as a volunteer and

showed us a series of printed pictures he carried in a tote bag. For the next hour,

my parents and I learned about his life in the military villages as he proudly

shared the pictures his father took.

alive to tell these tales. I wanted to help capture these stories before they were

lost with time. Not only would Taiwan benefit from learning about life soon after its independence, I knew this would be a very special way for others to learn more about Taiwan. Underlying his story was the tale of a young country in its struggling phases and how its people found their footing.

My three main questions to Mr. Wu were the following:

1. What were the roles of women and children in Taiwanese military

villages?

2. How does the sense of community in military villages compare to modern

day Taiwanese neighborhoods?

3. What were some sources of happiness when living in the military village?

My hope was for these questions to shine light on how and why Taiwan has

changed in the past decades. I also wish for the relationship between military

village cultures and the larger culture in Taiwanese society to emerge through

these answers. I believe that Taiwanese people will find this video useful in

learning more about their culture, especially those who live in Hsinchu city – the

same city in which I grew up. The process of reconstructing these villages in a

way that is modernizing yet without erasing the essence of its culture is an

ongoing project of the city and nation. I hope sharing Mr. Wu’s story will help with this process. To the rest of the world, I hope this video serves as a personal way to learn about the history, the fight, and the people of Taiwan.